Simple Wins Again

Here are some simple guildlines for simple copy …

• DON’T express more than one idea in a sentence
• DON’T use sentences of more than 15 or 20 words
• DON’T use more than 4 sentences in any one paragraph
• DON’T let any paragraph run for longer than 6 lines
• DON’T use more than 250-300 words in any block of text
• DON’T use unnecessarily complicated words
  For example
  “Restart” not “recommence”; “soon” not “in the foreseeable future”; “bought” not “purchased”; “need help” not “require assistance”
• DON’T use foreign words
  For example
  “forever” not “ad infinitum”; “problem” not “bêté noir”; “clever” not “adroit”; “required” not “de rigueur”
• DON’T use jargon
  For example
  “use” not “utilise”; “active” not “pro-active”; “fired” not “de-installed”;
• DON’T use words with three or more syllables
  For example
  “walk” not “perambulate”; “soothing” not “emollient”; “slight of hand” not “legerdemain”
• DON’T use unfamiliar or rare words
• DON’T use unfamiliar acronyms or abbreviations without spelling them out in full the first time
• DON’T use more than three acronyms or abbreviations in any one paragraph
• DON’T use many words when one will do
  For example
  “catastrophe” not “terrible disaster”; “facts” not “true facts”; “consider” not “actively consider”
• DON’T hesistate to break any of these rules if it seems patronising